Yesterday, Bill Center wrote an article on Padres.com about the changes to the retired numbers currently located on the Batter’s Eye along with changes related to the new Padres Hall of Fame. I was out doing other stuff and didn’t really have a chance to look at any of it until today.

Today is a sad day for me and for many of you reading this. On June 16th, 2014, we lost Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn. I still greatly miss him and Jerry Coleman to this day. They were two legends that meant the world to San Diego, both on and off the field, and can never be replaced. I wanted to do something special for them when they passed away last season so I’ve been working on a Jerry and Tony tribute episode for the past year now and it keeps growing and growing. I’ve already interviewed numerous people that were close to them and there are 3 or 4 more people that I’m hoping to chat with in the coming weeks.

One of those people that I chatted with was Steve Poltz, who performed his amazing tribute song for Tony called “Hey, Hey, Number 19” that I shot and edited. As a tribute to Tony we thought it would be nice to release that portion now.

After walking to the Park at the Park for lunch today (full disclosure: grilled chicken, spinach, cucumber, and goat cheese salad), I took a stroll by Jerry’s statue and noticed something odd. The framed poster things that usually hang on the wall behind him were gone, while a very official looking construction sign with black and yellow lines and everything barricaded the area.

After doing what any of us would do and taking this news to Twitter, the always communicating Chief Marketing Officer of the Padres Wayne Partello dropped some knowledge on us:

@CT2SD@SacBuntChris a planned update to coincide with what would have been Jerry's 90th birthday this Sunday.

Here it is! All of the Padres bobbleheads that I own, in one single post! 57 168 (!!!!) different Padres, Chihuahuas, Beavers, Stars, BayBears, Quakes, Storm, Wizards, TinCaps, Emeralds, managers, announcers, mascots, dreamboats, skaters and sleepy voiced ex-owners. I’ve written in depth about many of these already, so if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments below and I’ll fill you in on them.

Some Additional Notes:

-The Tony Gwynn set of 5 was not a Padres affiliated giveaway and was reportedly a set that Alicia Gwynn teamed up with another company on. I can’t recall the year, or if they were given away somewhere or sold, but I’m about 99.9% sure that it was in 2001.

-I found out that the set that features Trevor Hoffman, Ryan Klesko, Mark Kotsay and Phil Nevin was indeed given away at a game on August 4th, 2002, but was for kids only. You could also go to Carl’s Jr. every Saturday for 5 consecutive weeks and purchase a combo meal to buy a different bobblehead for $4.99 though, which is what I did. My cholesterol levels have never been the same.

-The Jerry Coleman bobblehead was a San Diego National Bank item from 2001 and was given away to “special friends of the bank” only.

-I’ve never seen the 1980’s Twin Enterprises bobblehead before, but I scooped it up. It’s in the 1985-1990 uniform, however I have never seen any of these holding a baseball. Perhaps it was a custom one?

If you have any bobbleheads that aren’t listed here, that you’d like to contribute to my sickness the cause, then shoot me an e-mail.

They retired his number in 2011. You would think that would have been a more opportune time to do it, what with everyone already being there for that ceremony and all.

Everyone else (with the exceptions of Steve Garvey – who isn’t in the Padres Hall of Fame, and Nate Colbert – who hasn’t had his number retired) has been named to the Padres Hall of Fame first or at least had their number retired at the same time.

Our heroes die, and a part of us goes with them. When Jerry Coleman died in January, I couldn’t find it in myself to write about the great man. The words simply weren’t there, so I let his actions and the words of others speak for me while I grieved.

Coleman was 89 years old. Though his death left us all with an unfillable void, we could at least comfort ourselves knowing that he’d lived a longer and richer life than most. Any death is tragic, but people that age will die. We can make some sense of it in the way our minds try to make sense of things we don’t understand.

When Tony Gwynn died on Monday after a long battle with cancer, he was 54. This makes no sense.

Lucky for you, I was able to go, as all San Diego SABR meetings are free to the general public.

It was held in the auditorium at the new Central Library downtown. I’ve been to the new library once before and visited the SABR collection off of the 8th floor reading room. If you haven’t been yet, I recommend it. It’s quite impressive. And is only going to get more impressive.

Please enjoy responsibly. Don’t read and drive.

Saturday, January 18th, the Padres held a public memorial service for Jerry Coleman, and Padres Public was well-represented.

Along with myself, Rick & Beau of RJ’s Fro, Woe Doctor, and Avenging Jack Murphy all attended. Rick is working on a special Padres And Pints featuring portions of the memorial. But that’s a few weeks away.

The ceremony took place on a stage placed strategically on the field. The podium was located above the second baseman’s usual position on the infield. Approximately 5,000 fans filled up Field Sections 111-115 in Petco Park. The Coleman family, VIPs, current & former players & coaches, broadcasters, and US Marines sat in front of the stage. And the Marine Corps Recruit Depot band was off to the right of that.